Why we eat what we eat

the long version

Who is the most important figure in the history of food? Not a chef but an explorer - Christopher Columbus - whose journeys set in motion a transoceanic migration of ingredients and ideas that are still transforming food cultures around the world. Before 1492, Europe had no tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate, green beans or peppers. Today's "classic" Italian cuisine, featuring pasta with tomato sauce, simply did not exist. On the other side of the ocean, fifteenth-century Mexico had no dairy products and no beef, pork or lamb dishes; the Aztecs were eating worms and grasshoppers instead of the cheese quesadillas and chicken tacos that we regard as "traditional" Mexican food today. In this lively and informative history of the world as seen from a gourment's table, Sokolov explains how all of us - Europeans, Americans and Asians - came to eat what we eat today.